Company Culture in Building High-Performing Organizations: 8 Culture Styles
Understanding the distinct culture styles of an organization can be essential to its success. Research has identified two primary dimensions that apply to all types of organizations, regardless of industry or size: people interactions and response to change. By assessing where an organization falls on these two dimensions, it is possible to determine its culture style.
People interactions, refer to how an organization values autonomy and individual action versus integration and coordinated group effort. Cultures that lean towards autonomy tend to value competition and individuality, while those that lean towards integration prioritize managing relationships and collaboration.
Response to change, on the other hand, refers to how an organization values stability versus flexibility. Cultures that prioritize stability value consistency and predictability and tend to follow established rules and procedures. Those that prioritize flexibility, prioritize innovation, openness, and diversity.
By assessing an organization's culture along these two dimensions, researchers have identified eight distinct culture styles. These styles apply to both organizational cultures and individual leaders, and each style has its own advantages and disadvantages. The eight styles are as follows:
· Caring: This style values relationships and mutual trust, and employees are united by loyalty. Leaders emphasize sincerity, teamwork, and positive relationships.
· Purpose: This style is characterized by idealism and altruism and is united by a focus on sustainability and contributing to a greater cause. Leaders emphasize shared ideals and contributing to a better world.
· Learning: This style is characterized by exploration, expansiveness, and creativity. Employees are united by curiosity, and leaders emphasize innovation, knowledge, and adventure.
· Enjoyment: This style values fun and excitement, and employees are united by playfulness and stimulation. Leaders emphasize spontaneity and a sense of humor.
· Results: This style is characterized by achievement and winning, and employees are united by a drive for capability and success. Leaders emphasize goal accomplishment.
· Authority: This style is defined by strength, decisiveness, and boldness. Employees are united by strong control, and leaders emphasize confidence and dominance.
· Safety: This style values planning, caution, and preparedness, and employees are united by a desire to feel protected and anticipate change. Leaders emphasize being realistic and planning ahead.
· Order: This style is focused on respect, structure, and shared norms. Employees are united by cooperation, and leaders emphasize shared procedures and time-honored customs.
These eight styles fit into an integrated culture framework according to the degree to which they reflect independence or interdependence (people interactions) and flexibility or stability (response to change). Styles that are adjacent in the framework, such as safety and order, frequently coexist within organizations and their people. In contrast, styles that are located across from each other, such as safety and learning, are less likely to be found together and require more organizational energy to maintain simultaneously.
Source: HBR
These eight styles fit into an integrated culture framework according to the degree to which they reflect independence or interdependence (people interactions) and flexibility or stability (response to change). Styles that are adjacent in the framework, such as safety and order, frequently coexist within organizations and their people. In contrast, styles that are located across from each other, such as safety and learning, are less likely to be found together and require more organizational energy to maintain simultaneously.
One of the powerful features of this framework is that it can be used to define individuals' styles and the values of leaders and employees. By understanding an organization's culture style, leaders can better identify areas of strength and weakness and make informed decisions to improve overall performance. No style is inherently better than another, and an organization's culture can be defined by the absolute and relative strengths of each of the eight styles and the degree of employee agreement about which styles characterize the organization.
